How to lock & unlock your car with a water hose.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2024
Posts: 34
Likes: 4
From: Frisco, Texas
AMG GLE 53 Coupe
How to lock & unlock your car with a water hose.
After my 2024 AMG GLE 53 Coupe was in the shop awhile, the dealership did a fantastic detail job for free. It looked brand new! I picked it up from a Dallas area suburban dealership at the same time we were having high winds from west Texas. Dust from 300 miles away covered my ride, so, I rinsed it off a couple
of days later. Did you know you can use a water hose to control the door locks? Check out the video. It’s OK, because you need the key and only worked when I was close enough. Pretty funny.
of days later. Did you know you can use a water hose to control the door locks? Check out the video. It’s OK, because you need the key and only worked when I was close enough. Pretty funny.
Last edited by TaterTex; Mar 16, 2025 at 10:32 AM.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,427
Likes: 5,336
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
Yes, that's nothing new. Tap water is conductive enough to act as an object coming near the capacitive sensors and trigger changes in the capacitance, just as when your hand comes near them. Everybody who at least occasionally washes their car by hand is familiar with this. You have to leave the key fob inside of the car or far enough away from the car or use the double-click feature to turn off the fob while washing the car if you don't want it to constantly lock and unlock.
Last edited by superswiss; Mar 16, 2025 at 10:57 AM.
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 32,322
Likes: 6,310
After my 2024 AMG GLE 53 Coupe was in the shop awhile, the dealership did a fantastic detail job for free. It looked brand new! I picked it up from a Dallas area suburban dealership at the same time we were having high winds from west Texas. Dust from 300 miles away covered my ride, so, I rinsed it off a couple
of days later. Did you know you can use a water hose to control the door locks? Check out the video. It’s OK, because you need the key and only worked when I was close enough. Pretty funny.
of days later. Did you know you can use a water hose to control the door locks? Check out the video. It’s OK, because you need the key and only worked when I was close enough. Pretty funny.
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 32,322
Likes: 6,310
Yes, that's nothing new. Tap water is conductive enough to act as an object coming near the capacitive sensors and trigger changes in the capacitance, just as when your hand comes near them. Everybody who at least occasionally washes their car by hand is familiar with this. You have to leave the key fob inside of the car or far enough away from the car or use the double-click feature to turn off the fob while washing the car if you don't want it to constantly lock and unlock.
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 32,322
Likes: 6,310
So what happens is I open the new posts page. It shows like 150 posts, I open the ones with topics that I might be able to answer so answer one by one and until I reach a certain topic that was actually answered... Which I don't know until I reply or refresh the page. Bad habits on my part.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 290
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W167 2021 GLE63S, W223 2022 S580
Worse is when the wife refuses to double click the FOB on the S class or put it in the faraday box I had to buy so that the 12V battery isn't depleted by staying awake.
Our garage is beneath our home so supposedly the FOB is too close to the car for it to go to sleep according to the dealer.
Our garage is beneath our home so supposedly the FOB is too close to the car for it to go to sleep according to the dealer.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2024
Posts: 34
Likes: 4
From: Frisco, Texas
AMG GLE 53 Coupe
Worse is when the wife refuses to double click the FOB on the S class or put it in the faraday box I had to buy so that the 12V battery isn't depleted by staying awake.
Our garage is beneath our home so supposedly the FOB is too close to the car for it to go to sleep according to the dealer.
Our garage is beneath our home so supposedly the FOB is too close to the car for it to go to sleep according to the dealer.
Addendum:
I tried wrapping my fob in Alan foil and it does block/weaken the fob signal. Completely warped with one layer it would not lock or unlock the car from about 5 feet away. Just a couple of feet away it would. I don’t know you could place enough inside the fob to achieve. Maybe still worth a try.
Last edited by TaterTex; Mar 17, 2025 at 08:55 PM.
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Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 290
Likes: 85
W167 2021 GLE63S, W223 2022 S580
S580
I wonder if this is worth trying. Supposedly aluminum foil can block the fob signal like a Faraday box. What if you were to take the outer case of the fob apart, place a little foil on the inside of the case and maybe this will weaken the signal just enough. The right amount in the right place might allow the key to work close to the car but not from inside your home. It probably would take a lot of experimenting on the amount and where to place the foil, but, it may be worth a shot. Maybe try it first by wrapping the fob partially from the outside of the fob before you place it hidden inside the casing. I don’t have your problem, but I may go try this myself just to see.
Addendum:
I tried wrapping my fob in Alan foil and it does block/weaken the fob signal. Completely warped with one layer it would not lock or unlock the car from about 5 feet away. Just a couple of feet away it would. I don’t know you could place enough inside the fob to achieve. Maybe still worth a try.
Addendum:
I tried wrapping my fob in Alan foil and it does block/weaken the fob signal. Completely warped with one layer it would not lock or unlock the car from about 5 feet away. Just a couple of feet away it would. I don’t know you could place enough inside the fob to achieve. Maybe still worth a try.
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Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,427
Likes: 5,336
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
Yes, only the newer models with the popout door handles appear to be affected by this. I'm guessing it has to do with the fob being in constant communication with the car if it's near enough to determine how far away it is so the car can decide when it needs to pop out the door handles. With the traditional door handles, the communication only needs to happen briefly and is initiated by grabbing the door handle and then again when the engine start button is pressed and periodically when the engine is running to warn the driver if the fob is left behind. Outside of that, there doesn't need to be any communication between the car and the fob.
